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Worgen Roleplaying Guide
I firstly want to make it clear that all of the information contained here is not meant to serve as a rigid guide to role-playing a Worgen. It is not –required- for anybody to follow this guide, and certain parts of the guide are based on individual interpretation of lore, rather then lore that is set firmly in canon. Rather then a terse set of rules, the guide is meant to provide both ideas and a few guidelines for those who are seeking to role-play a Worgen. I have certainly been approached by a fair amount of people in-game about the peculiarities of Worgen role-play, so I decided to make this guide that outlines a lot of the answers I’ve given. I also want to give thanks to the following people: Oswyn/Rucifel: Helped me with Grammar. Macgillavry: Expanded on hunters and advised for a Duskwood Section. Eredis: Expanded on Death Knights. 'History of the Worgen' Druids of the Pack The years following the War of the Ancients were a time of great experimentation and little regulation for the newly trained druids under Malfurion Stormrage. Many forms were tested by the shapeshifting druids, and one of those forms was the Pack Form, which was unique in sheer power, but also in dangerousness. The Pack form owed it's patronage and form to the wolf ancient Goldrinn, who was notorious for supposedly drawing the ire of the Moon Goddess herself due to his sheer savagery. Those who adopted his form were known as the Druids of the Pack. Malfurion himself was unable to control his actions within the form, and in his rage, he once attacked Cenarius. He restricted his students from using it soon after. Unfortunately for the Night Elves, it was also a time of great death and loss. Fueled by demonic pacts and a burning desire for vengeance, a large portion of Satyr remained, and waged war on the Kaldorei. The War of the Satyr pushed the druids to desperate measures, and in their desperation, the Druids of the Pack once more turned to their volatile, lupine form. Two elves, Ralaar Fangfire and Arvell spearheaded this movement, and together they tore through the ranks of the Legion. Soon after, though, they lost control and killed several of their own. It was not very long before Malfurion caught wind of this. Upon discovering how difficult the form was to control, he quickly ordered them never to use it again, and a penitent Arvell concurred. Ralaar, however, did not. Druids of the Scythe Refusing to call upon Goldrinn's strength, Arvell fell in a surprise attack. Heartbroken, his beloved Belysra Starbreeze assisted Ralaar in creating the Scythe of Elune, by infusing both Elune's presence and a fang of Goldrinn. Taking ancient elvish mythology as their own inspiration, they believed that using the powers of the Moon Goddess could ‘tame’ druids while in the Pack Form. However, Goldrinn rejected Elune, and the Ralaar were twisted into something between humanoid and wolf. Ralaar now stood upright, as a Worgen, both blessed by Goldrinn and the Moon Goddess. Ralaar, now known as Alpha Prime, was the first of the Worgen, and the beginning of their long, dark history. End of the Druids of the Scythe Belysra first seemed to be successful. This new form granted them dominion over Goldrinn’s gift, and it did seem that Elune had ‘tamed’ the beast. The other Druids of the Pack readily accepted the transformation, now named “Druids of the Scythe” in remembrance of the Staff that granted them some degree of control over their form. The Satyr were decimated by the invigorated druids, who no longer turned on their own Brethren. However, soon after being defeated, Alpha Prime called for Malfurion’s death, believing him to have murdered Arvell by banning the Pack form. As Kaldorei moved to defend Malfurion, many of them were bitten, and transformed into Worgen themselves. Malfurion and many druids escaped, bandeding together in a new organization called the Cenarion Circle. He convinced Belysra to grant him the Scythe of Elune, which he used to successfully banish the Worgen to Daral’nir, a tree that soothed their feral hearts...for a time. Not truly the end... As they were imprisoned in the Emerald Dream, it turned out that Malfurion himself had made a dire mistake. Instead of soothing the spirits of the Worgen, the tree only led the Feral beasts into greater rage. They became even more violent and savage due to the imprisonment, although they had no way to leave the Dream. However, the Scythe of Elune was still floating around, and it would eventually be gifted to a night elven sentinel named Velinde Starsong. She summoned the worgen using the Scythe, to aid her in fighting back demons- but eventually lost control of the very Worgen she summoned. After her subsequent death in Duskwood, the scythe eventually found its way into the hands of the Druids once more. More important perhaps is Arugal, who is an Archmage of Dalaran, who fled towards his homeland of Gilneas after Dalaran was destroyed by the Scourge. He was a true Patriot of Gilneas, and also in possession of knowledge that detailed how to summon the Worgen into the Material plane from the Dream. The first mage to find this knowledge, Ur, had advised against summoning them into the world, for he believed they would only be a blight upon it. Alpha Prime takes Gilneas Nevertheless, the Worgen fascinated Arugal. He persuaded King Greymane to allow him to summon the savage wolf-beasts, in order to fight back the Scourge that were plaguing Gilneas. Reluctantly, Greymane agreed, and soon enough the Worgen managed to push back the scourge. Unfortunately, Arugal's and/or Velinde's tampering awakened Alpha Prime, who led the worgen to turn on their summoners. The great Alpha was determined to raise an army, in an act of final vengeance against Malfurion, and so he set about infecting and transforming the citizens of Gilneas with his "gift". Many willingly pledged themselves to Alpha's cause. Many more, including the king himself, were infected forcibly. To make matters worse, Alpha Prime allied himself with the Forsaken, in order to further subvert the power structure of Gilneas. Belysra Starbreeze learned of Greymane's plight and arrived, in Gilneas, the scythe soon following. With it, she aimed to banish Alpha Prime once more. However, Alpha Prime and his wolfcult managed to retrieve the scythe in the ensuing battle, gleeful that the power would be his once more. Just as it seemed all was lost, Alpha Prime was ambushed and destroyed by the ghost of Arvell, in Spirit wolf form. After much consideration, Varian Wyrnn has allowed the nation of Gilneas once more into the Alliance. Now, the Worgen of Gilneas seek to retake the war-torn remnants of their homeland. Types of Worgen So there we are! That is a basic out-line of the story of the Worgen! If you wish to learn more about their story, as well as some fun theories, I advise going to WoWinsider and seeing what they have to say about them. Now we come to translating this all into Role-playing, and deciding –who- your Worgen can be. As far as we know, there are a variety of different kinds of Worgen. Gilnean Worgen The most common of the Worgen we see today, and also the kind that most people tend to Role-play as. The Worgen Curse reached pandemic levels when it spread into the secluded human kingdom of Gilneas, transforming almost all of its inhabitants into Worgen. Gilnean Worgen (AKA Greymane Worgen) are the ones we actually create in the game. They were either born, or simply lived in Gilneas at the time when the Worgen curse fell upon the land of Gilneas, and were bitten. Drinking from the wells of Tal'doren allows them to regain civility and transform back into their humans selves at will. Hillsbrad Worgen Now, these are a fun case. They could simply fit into the above category, but there’s also something else you can do with them that gives them a very unique backstory. In a few Forsaken quests, you saw humans from Southshore, survivors of Forsaken assaults, having fled to Fenris Island. These humans drank from the Blood of Darius Crowley, Worgen, and were able to assume the form this way. Why? Because it granted them immunity from being risen as Undead!     Worgen of other human kingdoms These are also entirely possible, albeit a bit trickier to do. Your character would have to have been bitten by a Worgen somehow, and then have regained their sanity somehow. I will explain the ways that Worgen can calm themselves or re-gain their sanity later, as it is fairly important for all kinds of Worgen! Night Elf Worgen These ones are -interesting-. These were the first Worgen, after all. Is it possible that one of these Worgen, like the ones summoned, somehow regained sanity. It would be a unique concept to role-play as; however, I don’t advise it. It would be difficult, albeit -cool-, to pull off successfully. You would also probably want to roll both a Night Elf, and a Worgen OOC, to get both models. Duskwood Worgen and their story. So it all started up with this wonderful Scythe of Elune. We did not really talk about Velinde Starsong, but I'll give a brief overview of her since she's mildly important. She was a night elven priestess who received the Scythe of Elune when she prayed to Elune (Although it was Goldrinn who probably gave it to her). After receiving the Scythe, she begins summoning worgen to help her out, and -naturally-, they turn on her! She went to Darkshore to search for more information about the beings. All she found was 'whispers' about our old friend Arugal who summoned them. She went to seek him out, and took the Scythe along with her. However, it turned out she was being followed by a group of Feral Worgen who wanted the Scythe for their own purposes. When she discovered she was being followed, she sought out refuge in a place called 'Roland's Doom', a cave in Duskwood. The worgen were onto her though, and attacked her at the entrance of the cave. She quickly retreated into the mine, but dropped her torch while the worgen were attacking her! This attacked the cave, killing both the worgen and Velinde, the step ripe for the taking by a jittery pansy named, well...Jitters. Before he found the scythe, Jitters was a fairly normal guy. Perhaps not the most exemplary of men, but certainly not the worst either. He was in cohorts with the Defias Brotherhood, and frequently refers to them in his journal. He was off venturing around Roland's Doom with a few of his 'Brothers' when he found the staff. He 'accidentally' summoned Worgen with the staff. This led to a very large population of Worgen being introduced into Duskwood, who began to immediately infect Jitters 'Brothers' with the curse. Jitters however, managed to escape successfully with the staff, although he was plagued by guilt. He decided to hide in a barn out in Duskwood, near a house that was home to a small family. Soon enough, the husband leaves the house, and 'Dark Riders' from the Deadwind Pass show up in Duskwood. It turns out that Jitters using the Scythe has somehow alerted this group of its location or presence, and they are now seeking it out for its own purposes. Right now, we don't quite know -who- the dark riders truly are, although there certainly are plenties of theories that are floating about. The Dark Riders made quick work of the small family, and Jitters left the staff in the barn, hoping that the Dark Riders would stop following him if he did so. The scythe eventually got to Gilneas in some way, but we don't quite know how. It was possible that the Dark Riders were servants of Arugal once he went mad, who had thereafter found the staff, and returned it to Arugal.Once again, we don't quite know. So ends the Story of Jitters. A few more things happened, like the husband (Named Sven Yorgen) discovering what occurred, but nothing much of note. Now we move to present-day Duskwood, where there are some exciting new developments taking place! Meet Oliver Harris. Worgen refugee and Alchemist, who's working on curing the worgen that have been released into Duskwood. You can do all the quests to recieve the full-story, but the basic gist of it is that there's a movement in Duskwood, primarily being led by Oliver Harris, to give the 'Salve' to Feral Worgen and give them their humanity back. Role-playing one of these cured worgen from Duskwood could be very interesting, especially because many of them may not have gone through the ritual of Taldoren yet! Gilneas is a long ways off, and its not very easy to take the ritual, given that it requires the Scythe to actually perform. Thus, your character will likely need a steady supply of the salve to keep them from going completely insane. Grizzly Hills Worgen We've talked about Worgen from both Duskwood, Gilneas, and the possibility that one could come from other human nations. Now, we're about to explore another interesting kind of Worgen that can exist: Ones from the Grizzly Hills. Up in the Grizzly Hills, there was a small trapper and trader community, who primarily lived in a moderately sized town called Silverbrook. We don't quite know how or when this trapper and trader community formed, which makes it interesting. They might have formed when the Alliance first led their expeditionary force to Northrend to kill the Lich King. They may have formed a bit before that, living as a sort of isolated community that sailed to Northrend for Elune knows what reason. Or of course, they could be descendants of the original Vrykul. We don't really know, which is why these folk are intriguing. Now, while these trapper folk were all fine and dandy, Arugal was in the middle of being killed by a group of adventurers. He was later resurrected by a San'layn, however, and the Lich King intended to use him for his own dire purposes. He ordered Arugal, who had somehow got his hands on the Scythe of Elune, to head over to the Grizzly Hills and make 'em into Worgen. And so Arugal, or rather the 'shade' of Arugal, immediately set to work on creating a 'wolfcult'. A wolfcult is basically a cult of humans who are granted with the ability to become a worgen, yet keep their human form for indefinite periods of time. Anyways, most of the humans either joined the Wolfcult, were killed off, or fled. Your character will likely be one of the ones who willingly joined the wolfcult. There are really two options you can go with here. Those who joined the wolf-cult did not appear to be completely feral. They could still think, they could still feel emotion, however, they -also- were partially insane. They want to spread the worgen curse to as many people as possible. Unlike the worgen that have gone through the ritual of Taldoren, they -can- still spread the curse. Now, if you want a way to make your character not quite as insane, you can always say that someone found them or gave them the salve, or some other mixture that quelled some of their feral rage. Warrior: Gilnean warriors are as effective as any, if not more effective. The Worgen curse grants them extra speed, agility, and strength, all of which come in handy in combat. As humans, Gilneans are generally fairly buff, hardy individuals, more then apt to be warriors. A warrior may fight, or have fought for, any of the following organizations: “Gilneas Royal Guard.” “Gilneas Liberation Front.” “Gilneas Brigade.” “Northgate Rebellion.” Classes Warrior Gilnean warriors are as effective as any, if not more effective. The Worgen curse grants them extra speed, agility, and strength, all of which come in handy in combat. As humans, Gilneans are generally fairly buff, hardy individuals, more then apt to be warriors. A warrior may fight, or have fought for, any of the following organizations: “Gilneas Royal Guard.” “Gilneas Liberation Front.” “Gilneas Brigade.” “Northgate Rebellion.” Rogue Where there is extreme wealth, and extreme poverty, there are thieves, and Gilneas was likely one of these places. You could play off a Gilnean rogue as being a poor pick-pocket of the streets, a learned shadowstalker and assassin, or even a Northgate Rebel who is just a bit sneaky! The choice is yours. Hunter Gilneas -does- seem to have some degree of a hunting tradition, judging largely by many of the pictures and ornaments that are found inside the abandoned Gilnean houses. They also have fairly unique guns. Mage Gilnean mages, such as Arugal, trained in Dalaran prior to Genn's closing of the Wall. It’s likely there was a school or two teaching it in Gilneas, though. Warlock Warlocks were likely derided in Gilneas, just like they were viewed with disdain in all the other human kingdoms, until Gilneas' fall, when they needed to use all the help they could get. They likely practiced in secret, and you can even play off being a ‘witch’ of sorts. Priest Gilneas certainly had a tradition of faith in the Holy Light. The largest building in the entirety of Gilneas City was the Cathedral. A priest of Gilneas would likely be tending to his people during the time of the Curse. Due to their close ties with the Night Elves, now, it is not out of the question that some could draw their power from Elune, as well. Druid Perhaps not true druids, Gilneans practiced a form of primitive druidism called ‘Harvest’ Wizardry. Harvest Wizardry appears to focus on communing with the Earth and her secrets, and is often referred to as the ‘Old Ways’. When they were given the form of a worgen and taught by the night elves, they became ‘true’ druids. Death Knight Death Knights are a tricky one. They are former servants of Arugal who have escaped Shadowfang Keep. Upon escaping it, they somehow fell into the hands of the Lich King. Undeath did away with much of their bestial nature, as well as their connection to nature. Category:Guides Category:Worgen Category:Roleplaying Guides